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At 6:50 a.m., Monday, Deer Hollow Road, a quiet residential street in Mount Airy, was awake with voices and excitement.

It was the first day of school.

Small groups of middle and high school students were already waiting at designated bus stops and buzzing with stories about the summer. Some parents were also up, checking on the younger students and making sure everyone got on his or her assigned bus.

It was a typical first-day-of-school scenario, with one exception - for the first time in the New Market area, middle school students had to ride buses with high schoolers, and start school as early as the older children as well.

The change affected only the New Market area and was brought about because of Linganore High School students' move to the new Oakdale building.

Kimmy Conway, a seventh-grader at New Market Middle School, was one student affected by the change. On the first day of school this year, she woke up at 5 a.m., her mother Cindy Conway said.

"My daughter was up and she was thrilled," Conway said. "She was up at 5, flat-ironing her hair and doing her nails."

New Market's change in busing was one of the biggest challenges for the Frederick County public school system's transportation department, as students went back to school this year.

Except for some minor glitches, the transportation changes did not cause any problems in the first days of school, the school system's director for transportation Veronica Lowe said.

"Things went relatively smooth, your usual first-day issues," Lowe said.

On the first day of school unexpected traffic congestion at Linganore High School, caused delays for some buses as well as for students driving to school.

School staff is now working to address the problem. Linganore Principal Marge Lyburn said she appreciated the patience of New Market commuters and said school system staff is now looking into ways to resolve the problem.

"We are working to make things as smooth as possible," Lyburn said.